


Ravelled

by UnicornPopcorn14



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Brotherly Love, Fluff, Gen, Hugs, Injury, Moments, Wholesomeness, Young Turtles, but i love it, fic request, one shots, stupid and pointless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:20:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25288228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornPopcorn14/pseuds/UnicornPopcorn14
Summary: Four brothers. Living together in the sewers. With their loving father. Inseparable.These are the four aspects they will never forget about themselves. That’s what they are. And, throughout the years, those aspects became much of an importance than ever. With each one finding their role, doing their hobby, and messing up multiple times; it sometimes gets to a point where it’s unbearable, yet they always stick together. They never leave each other.Because, who else do they have? Who else can they lean themselves on?Why would they even need someone else, anyway?Two different requests by@bastardbeewoman&@3DrotTMNTcombined in one fic! <3
Comments: 11
Kudos: 45





	Ravelled

**Author's Note:**

> “-younger turtle fic, don starting to improve the lair/Mikey wanting to learn how to cook/the bros being worried about Donnie softshell when he first got hurt” –[@bastardbeewoman](https://twitter.com/bastardbeewoman?s=20)
> 
> “-the First time Splinter let his sons go outside alone and asked Raph to take care of his brothers” -[@3DrotTMNT](https://twitter.com/3DrotTMNT?s=20)

“Leeeooooooooo!” Michelangelo, the 6-year-old turtle, whines his brother’s name for the tenth time, and the said brother just sits there unfazed, allowing his arm to be tugged.

“ _WHAT_? _What_ do you want?? You’re just calling my name without telling me what’s so important!” He finally snaps, and Mikey smiles widely, feeling as though achieving his goal by gaining his brother’s attention.

“I want you to try and make a piztha with me!” He says in a tiny tone with a full cheek, bringing his chin on the couch’s handle.

Leo stares at him, before saying, “AGAIN?! Don’t you remember what happened the last time we entered the kitchen together? The toaster. exp. _loded_!” He stresses, his forehead an inch away from his brother’s.

Mikey pouts, “That was _your_ fault! Who uses the toaster while _heating_ _soup_?”

Leo huffs, crossing his arms, “Well, okay. If everything is _my_ fault, why do you want me to join you?”

Mikey averts his eyes, bringing his indexes together, “I’m… afraid to use the oven…”

Leo retreats slightly, before sighing heavily, “ _Fine_! But if something explodes, _you’re_ the one telling Donnie this time.”

Mikey was smiling until the last part of the statement. He huffs, “Okay…” He says with a frown, before jumping, getting a grip of Leo’s arm before he knows it, “LET’S GOOOO!”

“WAAAH!” Leo screams.

**_In the Kitchen~_ **

“Uhm… quick question…” Leo raises a finger, already dressed by Mikey with sheer force in the chef’s apron and hat.

“What?” Mikey stops going in circles to look at his brother.

“Why the sudden need to make a pizza?” Leo asks, “We always order them-”

“NO!” Mikey cuts with an angry frown, “No more ordered pizza! From now on, only _my_ pizza!”

Leo raises a brow, “Is it because of the time where you found a strand of hair in it?”

“NO! I mean… yes… that’s another reason; but because we can’t force daddy to bring us pizzas every day. We will run out of money, and then have no pizza forever!” He exclaims dramatically, “That’s why, I’m gonna learn how to make one today, with you!”

Leo can’t exactly comprehend Mikey’s logic, but rolls his eyes with a smile anyway, “Alright, big man. What’s the first step?”

“Dough!” The young turtle jumps, and Leo chuckles.

“Okaaay… where is the dough? Or are we gonna make it?”

“Yeah!” Mikey exclaims, approving the second statement, “I said this is gonna be _my_ pizza, which means, I’m gonna make everything from the beginning!” He pauses, bringing out a small paper, “Now, do you want to read or whisk?”

“You read!” Leo says, bringing the bowl where the ingredients are going to get whisked in to make the dough. He’s going to prove to everyone that he isn’t a terrible cook like everyone in the family assumes! If Mikey believes in him, then he’s going to-

**_20 minutes later~_ **

“HOW DID YOU BURN THE DOUGH!?” Mikey screams in his high-pitched tone while the oven is beeping.

“YOU SAID ‘HEAT THE OVEN’!”

“ _PRE_ HEAT!!”

“WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE??”

“I GO OUT FOR TWO SECONDS AND YOU _BURN_ THE _DOUGH_?”

“HOW DO YOU SHUT OFF THIS THING??”

“THERE-” Mikey only manages to turn the oven’s button off, before black smoke fills the kitchen, causing the duo to cough up their lungs.

Moments pass, until the smoke partially clears out, which shows how Mikey’s glaring furiously at his brother, seeming to be done with everything.

Leo only chuckles, “Ehehe… I’m… _sorry_?”

“DAAAAAAAD!” Mikey calls, running out of the kitchen.

“NO, COME BACK HERE-” Leo runs after him.

Yes, that’s the moment where Leo finally realized how bad of a cook he is. And from that day on, he was prohibited from entering the kitchen ever again. He wouldn’t say he was _that_ upset about the situation, though. Because right after getting grounded, the baby of the family came checking on him,

“Hey.”

“ _What_ do you want?” Leo asks annoyingly, his shell facing his brother.

“I… I’m so sorry…” Mikey says in a cracked voice, about to cry, and Leo’s eyes widen, “I didn’t know that dad was going to ground you… P-Please don’t be mad at me…” The younger finishes, sobbing.

Leo was actually mad at his sibling, but after hearing this, he receives an immediate change of heart, and turns around with teary eyes, “No! I’m the one who should apologize!” He exclaims, beginning to blurt in full speed, “I-shouldn’t-have-done-something-on-my-own-without-listening-to-the-next-step-and… and….” He stops, tears rolling down.

Mikey’s eyes go wide, and his feet carry him in a rush to jump at his brother, wrapping his arms around his neck in a hug. Leo’s reaction is only returning it.

“I guess we both messed up badly today…” Mikey says, a chuckle coming out from him.

“Yeah…” Leo confirms, “How about the title of ‘team fiasco’ for you?”

Mikey unties his arms to be able to look at his big bro, “What does ‘fiasco’ mean?”

Leo’s expression goes blank for a second, “I don’t know.” He shrugs, “Donnie called me that once when he was mad…”

“If Donnie said it, then it must be mean…” Mikey pouts, “No, we’re not fiasco! We’re awesome! We’re team awesome!”

Leo raises an eye-ridge in confusion, “Even after everything that’s happened?”

“Yeah! Because awesome people do mistakes and learn from them! And we learned! So we’re awesome!”

Leo _really_ doesn’t understand Mikey’s logic, but smiles nonetheless, “Yeah! I know you’re gonna make a great pizza next time! And I’m gonna root for you from outside the kitchen! Because we’re team awesoooooome!”

Mikey’s eyes brighten, and his smile widen.

Because Leo was right. In the following attempt, Mikey made his first perfect pizza, and the slider was there to congratulate him.

**ROTTMNT**

**ROTTMNT**

**ROTTMNT**

“This is… _one hundred percent_ dangerous guys!” The young genius of eight calls from behind, holding his bo-staff like a life line. All attention turns to him, “The possibilities of any of us getting hurt is greater than dad’s possibility of passing out after milk and cake; that is without taking account of how we are going to be so toast when dad f-”

“Yeah, blah blah blah blah blah!” Leo cuts him with hand movements right in front of his glasses, and Donnie groans and pushes it aside, “Quit being a talkative chicken, Dee! I bet Dad told us to never go inside because something very cool is there!”

“We’re gonna be fine, Donnie!” Raph waves a hand, and Donnie looks up to him in a frown, “‘Sides, we can clean this “forbidden room” and turn it into somethin’ new! Then show it to dad and-”

Mikey suddenly gasps, “And get hugs?!”

Raph smiles widely, and Leo yells, “YEAH, MIKEY!”

“Omigosh!!! What are we waiting for?!!” Mikey blurts then flees inside.

“Hey, wait for me!” Leo follows.

“GUYS, we still gotta be careful!” Raph sprints to catch up with the two, “We don’t know what’s in there!”

Donnie is bolted outside, the broken wooden door with a big red X is right there before him; mocking him. His brothers have already disappeared and he can no longer see or hear them; they’re there in the dark void, not even considering any odds of how bad this might get. How many times Splinter has warned them about this part of the lair. It _has_ to be for a reason, right?

His eyebrow twitches while he closes his eyes in irritation, and sighs, “Seems like I am the only one who has some common sense in here…” And forces his legs to carry him inside.

**~~**

Along the journey of catching up to his brothers, Donnie takes notice of how dirty, broken, unstable and dimly lit the room is. He also realizes that it is huge and has a pathway of some sort leading to somewhere else. A weird smell is filling the place, and the turtle recognizes it as sewer water. Figuring by how much this place is messed up, Donnie theorizes that the water might have been the sole reason for this much damage, and occasionally is dripping inside. Every once in a while he can feel something wet under his feet. He grumbles.

“Oh, there you are!” Donnie looks up to find Leo sprinting for him, “Thought you were gonna be too scared to come in!”

Donnie frowns in irritation, about to come off with a reply but stops when Raph and Mikey join.

“Man, this place is huuuge…!” Mikey muses while looking around, “I wonder why Splinter kept warning us about coming.”

“Simply, Michael, because this whole place is _severely_ unstable.” Donnie says, shooting looks to both his twin and the oldest.

“I don’t know… I think it just needs some work…” Raph is the one to say, much to Donnie’s surprise. How can his oldest brother be _that_ oblivious about how dangerous this is?

“Yeah, I’m with Raph.” Leo says, “And I actually wanna find out what’s in the end of this tunnel… r-room… whatever!” He pauses slightly, “I can hear some water running…”

“Think it leads us directly to the sewers…?” Mikey asks, turning to Donnie.

“Likely so, yes.” Donnie murmurs absentmindedly, examining the area in obvious concern.

“Oh, then this is GREAT!” Leo suddenly exclaims, “We can sneak out whenever we want from now on by using _this_ secret place, baby!”

“It’s not much of a secret when Pop knows about it…” Raph corrects, crossing his arms, “But, yeah. I think this place is pretty cool. Can turn it into… uhmmm… a garage of some sort…? Maybe… Maybe Donnie can build us a boat and use it once we go on missions? Or-”

“Raph, I hate to interrupt. Well, actually I do not.” Donnie says with a raised finger, looking around, “But you have to trust me when I say that this place is the _farthest_ from safe. I believe we should get out.”

Leo snickers, “Scared-y pants say whaaaa-”

“Leo, I’m _not_ joking!” Donnie snaps, for Leo’s smile to fall, “I am with you, Raph. This place would be great as an extra space to our home but in order to do that we need a couple hundreds of supporters which we do _not_ own and have to collect…”

Donnie locks his eyes with the oldests’, silently begging him to listen and get them out of here. Raph takes a final look around, before saying,

“I think Donnie’s talkin’ some sense, guys… It really seems dangerou-”

“No!” Leo exclaims in anger, “If you two wanna be lame and head back, do so! You are just ruining the fun!” He crosses his arms.

“Guys-” Raph tries to interfere.

“Me too! I’m staying here!” Mikey imitates his immediate older brother, “Team awesome will do what _they_ want!”

Donnie’s eyelid twitches, the final straw snapping, “Do you want to get yourself KILLED?! See- See this?” He points at a very bad shaped looking pipe hanging from the ceiling, getting closer to it, “ _This_ is the definition of unsafe! And I’m not risking our life _twice_ by firstly disobeying our father then secondly roaming around in a prohibited area because you are too DUMB-” He brings his fist and bangs it on the nearby wall with sheer power, “-TO UNDERSTAND HOW DANGEROUS THIS CAN BE!”

“DONNIE, LOOK OUT!”

The genius doesn’t get the chance to register what happened. One moment he can see his family screaming and running for him, and the other, everything comes down, everything hurts, everything’s dark…

**~~**

He shifts, his face crunching in discomfort as he tries opening his eyes. The task is difficult, as if his eyelids are glued together, but he finally manages to separate them, to be met by the blur in front of him.

Right, his glasses. Where were they? The question is important, but Donnie feels tired enough just by lying there, on that… cozy bed… on his plastron… wait, where was he, again?

The softshell finally decides to move, bringing his hands and propping himself up, which resulted in him bending his shell. The sudden sting he felt almost made him yelp, readjusting himself swiftly to sit properly before having the chance to fall back. With a grimace on his face, the turtle wonders what the heck that was, and is about to inspect until he spotted the pile of his brothers that were sleeping on the ground beside his bed.

Donnie raises an eyebrow. What are they doing here in his… no, wait a minute, this isn’t his room… That’s… the med bay. He can tell even with his blurry eyes, but he can’t really make out much more. Squinting his eyes, he finally finds his glasses sitting on the desk beside him, and puts them on.

The first thing he notices, is how much scratches his legs and one of his arms contain. So many band-aids and gauzes are wrapped around the areas, making Donnie stare for a quite a while. He then remembers the sudden pain he felt in his shell once waking up, and brings his hands behind him to try figuring out what happened. Brushing with his fingers, he traces with them the long, bandaged gash that formed there. The lightest touch made him hiss.

It’s not the fact that his shell got hurt what’s making him confused at the moment, but the actuality of how deep this injury seems. So many times had he considered to put something protective on his shell, knowing how delicate it is, but in those many times he still rejects the idea. He always tries to deny the truth, that he is anatomically the most vulnerable of his brothers, but at this point, it’s apparent that this is becoming dangerous. He can’t stay unarmored anymore.

A grumble blocks his thoughts, turning to the pile his brothers formed, to see Mikey stirring slightly from under Leo, seeming very uncomfortable. Donnie can give him that, since he’s on top of Raph’s plastron, and Leo’s on top of his, Mikey’s head is hanging upside down, facing the softshell. More murmurs and groans comes out of the box turtle, and all Donnie can do is watch the scene in slight amusement, until a pair of eyes open, stare at him blankly.

Mikey only takes a moment, seeming confused by the upside-down image he’s witnessing, before his eyes widen,

“Donnie…?”

The genius doesn’t get a chance to reply when Mikey jumps, pushing Leo off him, who lets out an ‘ow’, “OMIGOSH! GUYS, DONNIE WOKE UP!!!!”

The other two bolt at the sound, screaming as all eyes land on the softshell. Donnie can only take a breath before the three wrap him aggressively in a hug,

“DONNIE! WE THOUGHT YOU DIED!” Leo cries dramatically, tears rolling down.

“WE’RE SO SORRY WE DIDN’ LISTEN TO YOU!” Raph apologizes rapidly, “We told pops that it was our fault, and to only ground us!”

“I WAS SO SCARED!!” Mikey wails, “YOUR SHELL LOOKED VERY BAD…” He sobs.

“I-” Donnie is about to say something, before Leo breaks the hug with a pointy finger, a frown on his face,

“No! No talking! You’re badly injured!”

“Yeah!” Mikey follows Leo, like he always does, “You never told us that your shell isn’t as hard as ours!”

Donnie raises an eyebrow, “I thought it was obvi-”

“NO SPEAKING!” Leo interrupts, “Like I said, you’re injured, so you don’t have to talk! We’ll have to figure something out for your shell because this is unacceptable!”

Donnie doesn’t understand how this makes sense, “Just because I’m hurt doesn’t mean-”

“SHHHHH!” The youngsters cut him, and Donnie clasps his mouth shut, turning to Raph, begging him to do something about this; but Raph himself seems to be enjoying his time, for that he’s smiling wildly. Donnie concludes how hopeless this is.

“Now,” Mikey takes a notebook from nowhere, “step one, we need to find something to put around it…”

“Like a pillow!” Leo raises a finger.

“Or an armor! *gasp* I can color it!” Mikey smiles.

“In purple…” Donnie interferes.

“We’re the experts working here!” Leo scoffs.

“Yeah! We’re the ones who’re gonna make it!” Mikey frowns.

Raph chuckles, “They’re basically saying that you have no opinion on _your_ new armor.”

“Eeeexactly!” The youngsters say in unison.

Donnie sighs in exhaustion, but smiles nonetheless while listening to his younger brothers babble about his new shell-protection. In the end, he knows that he’s going to work on it on his own. But he appreciates the concern and the offer…

Even though he’ll never admit that…

**ROTTMNT**

**ROTTMNT**

**ROTTMNT**

“WOOO YEEEAAAAAH!!!” Mikey jumps up and down across the sewer tunnels, more excited than ever.

“Careful, Mikey!” The 13-year-old snapping turtle warned, looking around himself in worry, “We don’t know if these pipes are stable…”

“Oh, come on, Raph!” Leo brushes with one hand, while the other rests on one of his Katanas, “Don’t be such a meanie in our FIRST OFFICIAL MISSION TOPSIDE!” He joins jumping with Mikey up and down.

Raph huffs, turning to Donnie, “I can’t believe Pops let Mikey go with us… he’s still too young!” He talks in disbelief.

Mikey suddenly stops, turning around with fiery eyes, “WHAT DID YOU SAY?!”

“NOTHING!!” Raph quickly screams tensely, and Mikey narrows his eyes in suspicion, slowly tilting his head back. Raph exhales, turning back to his immediate younger brother, who seems to be muffling a laugh.

The oldest frowns, “What?”

Donnie presses down the urge to cackle, then says casually, “Nothing much of an importance. You seem to be concerned on a high level, that’s all.”

Raph crosses his arms, “Y’know what Pop said, ‘Take care of them, Red. If anything happened to them it will all be your fault, Red.’ You think I’m ready to handle a responsibility that big??”

“You know Dad. He is just using the method of exaggeration to make you take the order seriously.” Donnie says, “And besides, we’ve _unofficially_ gone topside before without Splinter’s permission, and you’ve always been in charge, regardless of whether or not dad asked; what’s making this so different?” He looks up at the oldest, eyebrow rising.

Raph huffs, “I’ll tell you…” He stares ahead, watching the youngsters, “In the times we’ve snuck out, just two or three of us go, and half of the time I’m so unaware of how much danger we’re in. I don’t want what happened in _the incident_ four years ago to repeat again, y’know…?”

Donnie’s face falls, recalling the unpleasant moment, “I see no purpose of bringing this up…”

“Well, this _is_ the kind of situation I fear the most…” Raph says in a bold tone, “Now that there are four of us and Leo’s stickin with Mike and hyping him for no reason; I can’t help but worry. These two can cause a fiasco on their own.”

Donnie stares for a while, before turning ahead, “Agreed. And point taken.” He goes silent for a moment, “But I’m certain nothing will happen. We are only going for a run topside, and the possibility of running into a human is nearly none because that is currently their bed-time.”

Raph isn’t sure if that’s an encouraging statement, but utters a hesitant “Thanks, Donnie…” nonetheless. He shifts his gaze ahead once again, to hear Leo calling for them while out of sight,

“Guys, A manhole’s here!!”

The elders pick up speed, and arrive to the said manhole. Raph is the one to first climb, the cover up on his head, observing the area carefully. It takes too long.

“Hey, Raaaaaph! Come on!” Leo whines, tapping on his brother’s leg.

“Alright, alright, Leo!” Raph replies in annoyance, still believing it’s a bad idea bringing Mikey with them, yet does as told. The chilling breeze greeting him is refreshing, and he takes a big breath while straightening himself, hearing his brothers coming up as well, he turns around and helps them up one by one, until they’re all on the surface with him.

“Woooah… this place is beautiful…” Mikey says, seeing the surface for the first time, “Alight! What are we gonna do!?”

“Welcome to New York, Michael.” Donnie states, “For your first time topside, I suggest a run on the buildings. It’s gonna be a fun experience for you, I assure. The ability to see the city from above with the wind in your face is more than enjoyable…”

“LET’S GOOOO!” Leo doesn’t even sit to hear what Donnie’s saying, tugging Mikey and taking the fire-staircase leading to the top.

Donnie rolls his eyes, Raph sighs, and both of them follow their younger brothers.

**~~**

“Now, Mikey. The number one rule is to hide from humans.” Raph says once they are all settled on the rooftop, “I don’t wanna scare you, but they can do some bad stuff to us if we aren’t careful…”

Mikey thinks for a moment, “But… isn’t Lou Jitsu a human… and he’s a good guy…?”

Raph is taken aback, “W-Well, yes… but-”

“And Jupiter Jim is a human too… and he’s _more_ than a good guy…”

“U-Uhhh…”

Leo sees how Raph is struggling, and interferes, “Yes, Mikey, they are. But know that not all humans welcome… _this_ …”

Mikey frowns, “But you just pointed at all of me…”

“Exactly.” Leo says, “Now, let’s just forget that and enjoy our time! And remember, you see a human, you hide. Got it?”

Mikey huffs, “Fine.” Then suddenly sprints to hop from the building, “RACE YA, SLOW POKES!”

“HEY, WAIT RIGHT THERE!” Donnie playfully calls, taking a sprint as well.

“NONE OF YOU ARE FASTER THAN ME YOU SNAILS!” Leo takes a flee.

Raph still has a bad feeling in his gut, but silently follows them as well. He gotta admit, the wind that’s greeting his face is more than welcoming, and for a moment he gets to forget all his worries and just enjoy his time. He can hear his brothers cheering from ahead, and is kind of settled seeing them this energetic in a very long time. Maybe he’s worrying too much. Like Donnie said, nothing is going to hap-

“HUMAN!”

The sudden alert from Leo jolts Raph, causing him to jump wrongly and slip at the ledge of the building, which makes him fall down the staircase and flat on the alley. The loud pop of his ankle sends him yelping.

“RAPH!” The three immediately take down the stairs and circle him in worry.

“Raph, Raph we gotta get out of here!” Leo urges, “The girl saw us, we can’t- Oh my God your ankle!”

Raph shakes his head, “It’s-it’s fine, guys! Just go and hide-”

“Are you okay?!”

The feminine voice startles the turtles, and they all looked up to see the said girl, coming down on the staircase in a rush. The boys panic as they are cornered and have no place to hide in; so they do the only thing they can do. Leo and Donnie stand in front of the fallen oldest, while Mikey’s behind Donnie, prepared as well.

The African-American girl lands in front of the alley’s entrance with a smile, “Woo! Gotta say, nice moves getting down there! And, oooh, nice costumes, too! Are you guys heading for a party or something?” She pauses when she sees how the huge one is down, “Oh, I’m sorry! I forgot that you fell! Are you okay, big man?”

Uncontrollable hisses come out of Donnie once the girl takes a step, which causes her to retreat,

“W-Woah, easy!” She takes out both palms in front of her, “I heard one of you scream ‘human’ earlier… so you talk, right? Wait… why would you even scream ‘human’…? Unless…”

“Guys, just go!” Raph whispers.

“No one is left behind, Raph!” Leo whispers back.

“Are you _real_ turtle-men?!” The girl suddenly questions in surprise.

No one says anything, still in tense mode.

The girl suddenly gasps when she observes them once again, “You _are_ real turtles! DUDE, THIS IS SO COOL! Just like in the movies! Wow, what are your names? Why do you have those weird weapons…”

The girl continues to rant, and Mikey says quietly, “I don’t think she’s harmful, Donnie…”

“No, don’t trust her!” Donnie replies, “If all we know, she can be playing a trick on us…”

The girl suddenly pauses, and the turtles tense, “Oh, man! I didn’t realize how scared you are! And… why aren’t you talking? Oh my God, am _I_ scaring you?” She tries to take a peek at Raph, but the turtles try their best to block her view. It doesn’t work, unfortunately, because she gasps, “Your ankle! Where is your home? You have to get him there! I can help you, you know? I know New York like the back of my palm!”

“Donnieeee…” Mikey urges again.

Donatello looks at his youngest brother, then at Leo, who both nod at him, seeing how desperate the situation is.

“Guys, what are you _doing_?” Raph whispers in panic.

Donnie tightens his grip on his tech-bo, never lowering his guard, “Just lead us to the nearest manhole without getting seen.”

The girl has a blank face for a second, before, “I _knew_ you could talk! And, woah, you live in the sewers?! This is the coolest thing I’ve-” She silences once the turtle in purple shoots her a death look, and breaks a cold sweat, “Fine, fine. I’ll stop talking. Will you be able to hold up the big guy?”

“Don’t worry about us.” Leo says, his tone not playful in the slightest.

“Alright, follow me!” She yells, before fleeing.

Donnie, Leo and Mikey hoist Raph, who is not enjoying this at all, and follow this talkative teen across the alleyways, carefully enough to not be witnessed by another crazy human.

“There! One manhole cover!” She presents it to them, and the turtles carefully lower Raph there.

“Thanks.” Mikey says with a small smile before getting down.

Donnie’s the last to enter, and sees that the human girl is about to enter too. He growls,

“Do _not_ think about it.”

“Woops, sorry.” She sheepishly apologizes, backing off, “Are we gonna meet again?!”

“I prefer not.” He frowns, before remembering something, “And if you ever consider telling anyone about this, I will _not_ hesitate to run across the city and find you!”

The girl seems unfazed, “No worries! Your secret’s with me!” Her head shoots up, “Oh, and if any of you ever wanna do something fuuun… or decided to have me as a friend, just ask about… APRIL. O’NEEEEAAAAL!” She screams.

Donnie grimaces, closing one eyes, “I’ll make sure to never do that.” He says, holding the cover, “And I guess I have to say this or my brother will kill me: Thank you for your help.” Then heads down, closing the hole before getting a reply.

**~~**

“Why _the heck_ didn’t you hide?!” Raph screams in disbelief, sitting down on the sewer floor while Donnie’s taking a look at his ankle, “You know how dangerous that was?!”

“That’s the only option we had, Raph…” Mikey says, “…We weren’t gonna leave you, you know?”

“Besides, the girl was nice enough to help us.” Leo states, before realizing something, “I just hope she doesn’t tell anyone, though, or we’re toast…”

“Do not worry.” Donnie says, “I gave her a piece of my mind on this.”

“See, Raph? We handled this!” Mikey says in a smile.

“Yeah, bro. Quit being upset!” Leo urges.

“I’m not upset at you, guys! You did great! I...” Raph exclaims, “I’m just… upset at how epically I failed… and didn’t get the chance to protect you, guys. Even… even though I’m the one in charge… I let myself fall down, put us in danger and… and just failed as a leader…” He sighs, “…Guess we’ll have to tell Pops that I’m not suitable for this…”

Donnie has stopped checking on Raph to look up at him, then the rest of his brothers. Leo and Mikey wore upset/determined faces. He knows what’s going to happen.

“Raph, for the millionth time, there is no way we would’ve left you.” Leo is the one to say, “I mean, think about it. If Mikey’s the one who was down, were you gonna leave him and just _hide_?”

Raph eyes the slider, “Of course not-!”

“Exactly!” Leo says, “Besides, what if it was a bad dude? Or an evil human? They could have taken you away!”

“And then we’d be so lost.” Mikey says sadly, “Because… who else can tell us the right from the wrong? Who else can protect us?”

“We wouldn’t need someone else, anyway. Because we have you!” Leo says.

“And each other!” Mikey adds.

Leo nods, “And we’ll always be stuck together. Whether we like it or not.”

Raph averts his eyes in slight doubt, before Donnie talks,

“Take their words, Raph. And when I say that they are right, they _are_ right. There is no way around it.”

A small smile crosses the leader’s face, and the three let out an ‘awwww’ before getting in a group hug, surrounding the leader in a protective embrace.

“Think we’re gonna meet that girl again, guys?” Mikey suddenly questions, the hug still going.

“For the love of God, please no.” Donnie replies.

**Author's Note:**

> Phew… *wipes sweat* this took a LONG while! Woo! I’m glad it’s over!
> 
> You see now why I needed to combine? To make a moment for each turtle! Bam! Call me Ms. Genius from now on, if you please! XD  
>  I guess my takes and the requests aren’t _exactly_ the saaaame…? BUT I LIKE IT THAT WAY! XP
> 
> Leo’s in every moment because he has no moment. (poor Leo)
> 
> Anyways, hope you two enjoyed, [@bastardbeewoman](https://twitter.com/bastardbeewoman?s=20) & [@3DrotTMNT](https://twitter.com/3DrotTMNT?s=20)!! Which moment is your fave? Let me know! ;)
> 
> \--------------------------------------
> 
> Also, HUGE shout out and BIG thanks to my friend [Jazz](https://twitter.com/muuukurou?s=20), aka the one who helped me out big time with Don’s moment!!! Go follow her immediately because she is such an underrated gem and certainly deserves love!!!
> 
> Oh, and she’s also a writer on AO3!! Here’s her page: [TheOvidians](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOvidians/pseuds/TheOvidians)
> 
> \--------------------------------------
> 
> Wanna request a fic? Click [here](https://curiouscat.qa/UniPopcorn1414)!!
> 
> Contact me on Twitter! You can find me [@UniPopcorn1414](https://twitter.com/UniPopcorn1414)! <3


End file.
